Fachelli y Montolio 2015

Multidisciplinary Journal for Education, http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/muse.2015.
3690
Social and Technological Sciences ISSN: 2341-2593
Valuation by Catalan graduates of the training received at

university in relation to its utility in the workplace
S. Fachelli* and D. Montolio**
Grup d’Innovació Docent Consolidat de Gestió i Administració Pública (GID-GAP)

Av. Diagonal, 684, Barcelona, Spain.
*Departament de Sociologia. Universitat de Barcelona. Corresponding author:

Sandra.fachelli@ub.edu; Phone: + 34 934021801
** Departament d’Economia Pública i Institut d’Economia de Barcelona. Universitat de
Barcelona.
Received: 2015-02-14; Accepted: 2015-05-24
Abstract
This article examines the factors that influence graduate valuations of the
education/training they received at university in terms of its utility or applicability in
the workplace. Drawing on the 2014 survey conducted by the Agency for the Quality
of the Catalan University System, among students that graduated in 2010, we test
three hypotheses. The first states that graduate valuation of the training received at
university in terms of its utility for the workplace is higher among those who are
currently employed in high quality jobs; the second that this valuation is higher
among graduates employed in higher occupational categories; and, the third, that
higher valuations are given by individuals with better academic records. The
methodology used to test the three hypotheses is based on both descriptive and
econometric techniques that allow us to control for specific individual characteristics
and specific characteristics of the degree subjects studied. Preliminary empirical
results allow us to verify two of the three hypotheses. The main contribution of this
paper is to provide some initial insights into a relationship not frequently examined
in the literature and to offer some empirical evidence that counters the typical
“matching” standpoint taken on the relationship between education/training and level
of employment.
Keywords
Higher education; training valuation; labour insertion; university graduates
Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

http://polipapers.upv.es/index.php/MUSE Mult. J. Edu. Soc& Tec. Sci. Vol. 2 Nº 2 (2015): 14-37 | 14
Multidisciplinary Journal for Education, http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/muse.2015.3690
1. Introduction
This article examines the factors that influence graduate valuations of the education
or training they received at university in terms of the satisfaction they derive from their
work. The question under examination is highly complex, especially given that we are
dealing with a subjective, self-report measure (i.e., the satisfaction derived) of the
training/education received at higher education institutions in relation to the jobs being
undertaken by recent graduates.
The question that concerns us is intimately connected with the broader analysis of
“job satisfaction” and its determinants, an issue that has been addressed by many
empirical studies conducted in countries around the world (see Gamero, 2003, and
references therein for a review). Job or occupational satisfaction is not readily measured,
nor are its principal determinants readily accounted for and explained. The complexity is
in part attributable to the fact that we need to address the graduates’ particular working
conditions, with special attention to the structural characteristics of the job (contract type
and duration), the degree of match between the job and the graduate’s degree and salary,
among others.
In this paper, therefore, we focus specifically on how recent graduates from Catalan
universities value the training/education they received at university with respect to the
work they are currently performing, a relationship that has not received direct attention in
the broader literature examining job satisfaction.
Previous studies undertaken in Catalonia, based on an indicator developed by Mañé
and Miravent (2007), found that a high percentage of graduates from Catalan universities,
now in full-time employment, considered (interviews conducted in 2011) that they were
appropriately educated for the job that they did (79.6%). At the same time, 13.6%
believed they were over-educated, while the remaining 6.8% considered themselves to be
mismatched. No significant differences were recorded in these responses by gender (see,
Planas and Fachelli, 2010).

To gain insights into graduate valuations of the training received at university in

relation with the satisfaction they derive from working, without overlooking the broader
question of job satisfaction in general, it is useful to learn about the quality of the
education received by graduates in higher education institutions and to determine whether
the education provided enhances the welfare of individuals when working, which is, after
all, very much part of the ultimate goal of the educational process.
Descriptive studies of the employability of graduates of Catalan universities have
been undertaken by the Agency for the Quality of the Catalan University System (known
as AQU) since 2001 via a survey conducted with more than 11,000 alumni. In this paper
we draw on the results from AQU’s latest survey (2014) conducted with students
graduating in 2010.
We seek to test three hypotheses. The first concerns the current job being performed
by the graduate and states that the graduates’ valuation of the training received at
university in terms of its utility for the workplace is higher among those graduates who
enjoy higher “occupational quality” (see definition below). The second hypothesis states
that this valuation is higher among those graduates that have a better “occupational
category” (see definition below). Finally, the third hypothesis states that higher valuations
of the training received and its utility for work are given by individuals with a higher
“academic performance” (better academic records).
A multivariate statistical analysis is conducted to test the three hypotheses. Thus, in
addition to contingency tables, we employ multiple linear regression models to compare
the variables of interest (occupational quality, occupational position and academic
performance) over a set of control variables deemed relevant for explaining the individual
valuations: sex, age, educational level of parents and the time taken to complete the
degree.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 briefly presents the
theoretical framework underpinning the three empirical hypotheses tested. Section 3
presents the empirical model, describing both the methodology and the data sources.

Section 4 reports the main empirical results found on performing the estimations. Finally,
Section 5 discusses these results and concludes.
2. Theoretical framework
As discussed above, the determinants of graduate valuations of the training/education
received while completing their degree courses share obvious ties with the more general
subject of worker job satisfaction. This broader assessment of individual job satisfaction
incorporates factors from psychology and sociology, including, personality traits,
personal relationships, recognition and prestige in the workplace, social support, health
and environmental conditions, social protection and exercise of fundamental labour
rights, which hinder its analysis and make constant reassessments necessary.
In this framework, the valuation of the training/education received in relation to the
current job can be considered an important part of the assessment of job quality and as an
aspect that needs to be evaluated from the perspective of employers and society in
conjunction with the perception of the employee (International Labour Organization,
2004; Seashore, 1974).
There is a vast literature examining the determinants of job satisfaction but there is a
general consensus that, among other factors, it is dependent on the qualifications required
to be appointed to the post, i.e., that the functions that have to be fulfilled in the job are in
accordance with the qualifications required (for instance, holding a university degree). In
general, and in line with AQU (2014), it would seem that workers express a higher level
of satisfaction with jobs that require specific higher education qualifications and a lower
level of satisfaction with jobs that do not require a university degree. The reason for this
may well be the valuation that workers give of the training received at an institution of
higher education and which is required to access those jobs that require a specific degree.
However, the literature examining the valuation of the training received in relation to
the job held is far less abundant. In general, and apart from obvious individual

characteristics, the valuation of training/education with respect to occupation is

considered to be determined via two main channels.
First, and in line with Richard Freeman’s (1976) perspective that takes as its focus an
individual’s “job position”, job satisfaction is intimately related with the ex ante
achievement of the requirements needed to perform the tasks related to a job. Thus, more
specialized job positions are associated with the specific skills that a worker must have
acquired before taking up the position. In such instances, job satisfaction is very closely
related to the acquisition of these skills and, hence, with the workers’ valuation of the
training/education received. Gargallo (2008), in reviewing studies undertaken from this
perspective, discussed how worker satisfaction has been analysed from within various
disciplines, including that of psychology (Argyle, 2001), sociology (Hodson, 1985;
Kalleberg and Loscocco, 1983) and economics (Hamermesh, 1977, 2001). Olarte (2011)
similarly examines the different perspectives adopted in studying factors that determine
job satisfaction and concludes, in line with Ardouin et al. (2000), that the key
determinants are having an intellectually stimulating job with fair rewards, favourable
conditions of work and cooperative colleagues. Robbins (2004), likewise, highlights the
importance of the attractiveness of the tasks performed, the associated rewards,
relationships with colleagues, and the working conditions to which employees are
exposed. To these Leal et al. (1999) stress the role played by wages, relationships with
superiors and peers, and opportunities for promotion. Finally, García et al. (2005) identify
four basic factors determining job satisfaction: personal fulfilment in employment,
working conditions, interpersonal relations and remunerations.
Second, and in line with Pierre Naville (1956), the valuation of some jobs cannot be
explained in terms of the “job position” but rather with regard to more general job
“competences”, i.e., workers’ general knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and values that are
useful in performing the specific tasks associated with a given job. In this framework, the
valuation of the training/education received is more indirect given that education systems
(at least in Spain) were not explicitly designed to promote these competences; hence,

while students may have acquired these skills, they are not always conscious of the
corresponding learning processes, which makes it more difficult for workers to assess
them in terms of their current job. In this instance, the main research approach involves
examining the match between level of skills and job position (McGuiness, 2006; Sattiner,
1993), what this strand of the literature refers to as the “matching perspective”; that is, for
every level of education there is a corresponding employment category. In what is clearly
a normative assumption, the match corresponds to the optimal exchange between
employers and employees in the labour market. There has been much criticism levelled at
this approach because of its attempts to establish a direct relation between workers’
education and training and the requirements of a job position, without taking into account
the role played by agents and institutions in that relationship (Raffe, 2001; Planas, 2014).
Within this context, and as pointed out above, we seek to determine if the evaluation
of such training is dependent on occupational quality, occupational position and the
academic performance of graduates. In the case of this last variable, we would expect
graduates with a better academic record to present a better match with their jobs (i.e.,
training vs. tasks performed), since they would enjoy a wider range of employment
opportunities. It is also possible that these “more skilled workers” are capable of more
sophisticated assessments of the utility of their prior training in relation to their current
work. A similar reasoning could be applied to the case of employment quality and
occupational position. In principle, we would expect to find a relationship between better
job positions and the evaluation that workers have of the training received at higher
education institutions, if that training was the means that allowed them to take up a
specific job or position. However, the answers to these questions lie in the data and, so,
our aim here is to determine whether these relations hold for the graduates of Catalan
universities.

3. Empirical model, methodology and data sources

3.1. Empirical model and methodology
The empirical counterpart of the aforementioned hypotheses can be expressed as
follows:
𝑌𝑌𝑖𝑖 = 𝛼𝛼 + 𝛽𝛽1 ∑ 𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖 + 𝛽𝛽2 ∑ 𝑍𝑍𝑖𝑖 + 𝜀𝜀𝑖𝑖 (1)
where i refers to the individual graduates in our dataset and Y is our dependent variable
accounting for the individual valuation of the training received in relation to its utility for
the current job. X is the vector containing the study’s three main variables, namely,
variables accounting for the “occupational quality”, “occupational category” and
“academic performance” of the graduates. Z is a set of individual control variables that
include sex, age, parents’ level of education, type of degree, degree duration and degree
awarded/place of graduation. Finally ε is an error term that ideally should be i.i.d.
distributed. Eq (1) is estimated using the traditional OLS technique. The qualitative
variables in our model are codified as dummy variables. The R2 informs us about the
goodness-of-fit of each of the estimated models.
3.2. Data sources and variables

Our data are taken from the 2014 survey conducted by AQU Catalunya on the
employability of graduates from Catalan universities. This, the latest survey available,
interviews individuals that graduated in 2010 (more than 17,000 interviews conducted).
We restricted the overall sample of individuals to those that graduated from public
universities (84.1%), and focus our study specifically on students graduating in the
degree in Public Administration (henceforth GAP) from the Law Faculty of the
University of Barcelona (UB) (identified in the empirical model by ‘degree
awarded/place of graduation’, see Table 1). Our sample includes those graduates that
were working (both full and part-time) at the time of the survey.

Our dependent variable is the average score given by graduates when they were
asked to evaluate the quality of a specific competence acquired at university (from 1 very
low to 7 very high) in relation to its applicability to his/her job at the moment of
answering the survey. The 14 competences are: “theoretical learning”; “practical
learning”; “oral expression”; “written expression”; “teamwork”; “leadership”; “problem
solving”; “decision-making”; “creativity”; “critical thinking”; “management skills”;
“computing skills”; “languages” and “documentation skills”.
Table 1: Sample of Catalan graduates by degree awarded/place of graduation and in

employment
Total Employees
Sample
Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage
GAP (UB Law Fac.) 37 0.3 32 0.3
Law (UB Law Fac.) 114 0.9 98 0.9
Other degrees - UB Law Fac. 198 1.5 169 1.5
Other degrees - Rest of UB 3,076 23.3 2,545 23.0
All degrees - Rest of Public Unis. in Catalonia 9,755 74.0 8,239 74.3
Total 13,180 100 11,083 100
Source: Based on AQU (2014)
We work with three main variables. The first, the index of occupational quality (see
Corominas et al., 2007) summarizes the quality of the labour market outcomes of
university graduates and combines the type and duration of the contract of employment,
the salary, the match (suitability) between the graduate’s university studies and job, and
job satisfaction in general. The index ranges between 0 and 100, with the lowest values
reflecting a lower quality of labour market outcomes and the highest value representing a
higher quality.
The second variable, occupational category (see Table 2), groups the nine categories
making up the Spanish National Classification of Occupations (NCO) in three broad
bands. These three occupational categories seek to group workers by overall skill level

(note that the NCO itself classifies occupation categories from more skilled to less
skilled).
The third variable, academic performance, which originally comprised four
categories (Honours, Excellent, Good and Pass) was regrouped into three by combining
Honours and Excellent into a single group given the small number of students obtaining
these two grades (see Table 3). Note, however, the variable academic performance is self-
reported by the graduates, that is, it is not based on university records. As for the expected
impact of this variable, Planas and Fachelli (2010) report that the entrance grade and the
student’s academic record present a very weak relationship with the graduates’ mean
assessment of their university education and the skills required in their job.
Table 2: Occupational categories based on skill level

Occupational Category National Classification of Occupation Categories
1 Directors and managers
Upper
2 Technicians and scientific professionals and intellectuals
3 Technicians; support professionals
Medium
4 Accounting, administrative and other office employees
5 Service and sales workers
6 Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers
7 Craftsmen and skilled workers in manufacturing industries and
Lower
construction
8 Plant and machine operators, and assemblers
9 Elementary occupations
Source: Based on AQU and NCO.
In the case of the control variables, sex, age and socio-economic background
(measured by parental education) are directly available from the dataset. The socio-
economic background has been analysed for the Spanish case but there does not seem to
be a statistically significant relationship between this variable and employability (see
Carabaña and de la Fuente, 2015; Torrents y Fachelli, 2015; Fachelli, Torrents y Navarro-
Cendejas, 2015, Navarro-Cendejas, 2013; Fachelli y Planas, 2014). Here, we analyse the
impact of the graduates’ socio-economic background on their assessment of the training

received at university in relation with the satisfaction derived from their work. Degree
length was constructed by subtracting the initial year of matriculation from the year of
graduation. The degree awarded/place of graduation variable differentiates, on the one
hand, between the Degree in Public Administration (GAP) and the Law Degree (the
graduates of which courses are the specific focus of this study) taught within the UB Law
Faculty and, on the other, between all other degree courses taught at the UB Law Faculty,
all other UB degrees and finally all other degrees taught within Catalonia’s Public
Universities.
Finally, and to test the robustness of our results we apply the same empirical model
as that presented in Eq. (1) but change the dependent variable; that is, we take as our
dependent variable the results of a more general question regarding the graduates’
valuation of the education/training received but without linking this valuation to its utility
in the actual job position occupied.
Table 3: Explanatory variables

Independent Variables Control Variables
Index of Occupational Quality (Numerical) Sex (male - female)
Age (years)
Educational level of parents
Occupational Category Primary
Upper Secondary
Medium Higher
Lower Time taken to graduate (in years)
Degree awarded/Place of graduation
Academic Performance GAP Degree - UB Law Fac.
Pass Law Degree - UB Law Fac.
Good Other degrees - UB Law Fac.
Excellent and Honours Other degrees - Rest of UB
All degrees - Rest of Public Unis in Catalonia

4. Results
4.1. Descriptive analysis
First, we undertake a descriptive or exploratory analysis of the dependent variable:
the assessment made by graduates of the training received during higher education with
respect to its usefulness for their work. We also describe the main explanatory variables
of this assessment by focusing on the degree awarded/place of graduation, which proves
of particular interest.
The average assessment of the usefulness of the set of tools received in higher
education in relation to the tasks performed in the current job is 4.36 (on a scale with a
maximum value of 7; that is 6.62 on a decimal scale). This can be interpreted as an
acceptable outcome but one that falls well short of the standard of excellence expected
from higher education institutions (see Figure 1). On average, the assessment given by
GAP graduates coincides with the overall mean, while the UB’s Law graduates are the
ones that value most highly the skills taught at university in relation to the jobs they now
perform.
Figure 1: Assessment of the applicability of knowledge to work by degree awarded/place
of graduation.
Mean: 4.3502 3.8222 3.8407 4.2345 4.4274

Source: Based on AQU (2014).

Figure 2 presents the assessment of the applicability of knowledge received in

university with respect to the job occupied by degree awarded/place of graduation.
Figure 2: Assessment of the applicability of knowledge to work by occupational category,

sex, academic performance and parental level of education.
Utility for work

Utility for work
Occupational Category Occupational Category Occupational Category Women: 5.1 Men: 4.9
Upper: 5.2 Media: 4.9 Baja: 4.2
Utility for work
Utility for work
Passed: 4.9 Remarkable: 5.1 Excellent: 5.3 Honors: 5.3 Up Primary: 5.0 Media Sstudies: 5.0 Higher Education: 5.1
Educational level of parents
When testing the alternative dependent variable (that is, the assessment of university
training), on average, we obtain higher scores: 5.0 (or 7.14 on a decimal scale) (see

Figure A1 in the appendix). In this case, the GAP and Law graduates valuation of the
knowledge received is on the average as well as the other degrees analysed.
Figure 3 directly compares the two dependent variables and plots the difference for
each specific competence (that is, the difference between the graduates’ valuation of each
component of training received at university and the appraisal of its utility for the current
job).
This comparison highlights certain deficits in university training if we consider that
the use of each of the competences in the workplace should afford the graduates with a
certain degree of satisfaction. However, this “mismatch indicator” may be called in to
question on the grounds that the training provided at university may pursue multiple
objectives, including the general education and personal development of individuals in all
areas of life, and that labour skills constitute just one of the many areas that higher
education should consider. However, the negative values reported in Figure 3 can be seen
as identifying deficits in university education/training if we restrict our interpretation
solely to the demands of the labour market (see Table A1 for the specific values reported
in Figure 3 for each competence and category and for degree awarded/place of
graduation).

Figure 3: Difference between the graduates’ valuation of each component of training

received at university and the appraisal of its utility for the current job.
Interestingly the results presented by the GAP graduates and the values recorded by
those graduating at all other Catalan public universities are similar; that is, deficits
(negative values) in general with the exception (although not significant) of
documentation skills, teamwork and theoretical learning. This means that graduates only
consider their level of competence in these first two skills as being adequate for the work
they currently undertake. Most notably it is the UB’s Law graduates that report the
greatest deficits across the whole skill set with a marked “mismatch” in their valuations
of computing skills, languages, decision-making and oral expression.

4.2. Regression analysis

The regression analyses presented in this section allow us to examine our findings in
greater depth. Specifically they enable us identify more precisely the impact of our main
variables of interest (“occupational quality”, “occupational category” and “academic
performance”) while controlling for a set of other potential determinants of the valuation
made by graduates of their training in relation to its applicability to their current jobs (see
Table 4). 1 The final sample comprises the valuations of 8,813 graduates and the goodness
of fit of the proposed model is around 20%. The results for the three main variables of
interest are statistically significant.
The index of occupational quality, as developed by Corominas et al. (2007), has a
positive impact, showing that the higher the occupational quality, the higher the graduates
value the education/training received at university. The occupational category also
presents a positive point estimate when the lower category is taken as our reference. This
suggests that a higher occupational category is associated with a higher valuation of the
adequacy of the training received for the tasks performed at work. Finally, academic
performance presents a positive impact: graduates with a better (self-reported) academic
performance value more highly the education/training they received in relation to their
current position.
As for the other control variables, we find that the socio-economic background of
recent graduates (measured by their parents’ level of education) does not seem to affect
the valuations given; that is, it would seem that the valuation is independent of family
background. Meanwhile, the variables of age and degree length present a negative
impact, indicating that younger graduates and graduates who made short degrees (or
taking fewer years to complete their degree) value less the education/training received
from the university in relation to the tasks they now perform in the workplace.
1
In the appendix we present (in Table A2) and analyse the results when our dependent variable is the
valuation of the training/education received at the university.

Table 4: Multiple linear regression: testing the model of analysis.

Coefficients Coefficients Beta * R
Dependent variable: assessing the training received Unstandardized typified Pearson t Sig.
in connection with the utility for working
B Stand. error Beta (in %)
Independent Variables
Constant 3,606 ,076 47,199 0,000
Occupational quality index (Numerical) ,019 ,001 ,358 14,0 34,302 ,000
Occupational Category: Low (*)
Upper ,504 ,039 ,217 4,9 13,019 ,000
Medium ,394 ,041 ,153 -1,3 9,620 ,000
Academic Performance: Approved (*)
Excellent and Honors ,238 ,066 ,035 ,1 3,587 ,000
remarkable ,146 ,022 ,068 ,6 6,672 ,000
Control Variables
Sex: Male (*) ,229 ,022 ,104 ,8 10,564 ,000
Age (years) -,008 ,002 -,039 ,2 -3,731 ,000
Educational level of parents: Up Primary (*)
Media studies ,031 ,026 ,013 ,0 1,196 ,232
Higher Education ,016 ,025 ,007 ,0 ,638 ,523
Career length (in years) -,018 ,004 -,044 ,3 -4,167 ,000
Place of graduation: Public Rest (*)
GAP Degree -,025 ,177 -,001 ,0 -,142 ,887
Law Degree -,180 ,106 -,016 ,0 -1,696 ,090
Rest degrees of Law (UB) -,518 ,085 -,059 ,5 -6,071 ,000
Other degrees of UB -,090 ,024 -,036 ,1 -3,668 ,000
Cases number 8813
R2 20,2%
R2 adjust 20,1%
Standard error 0,96607
(*) Reference category of independent variables
In the case of the variable capturing degree awarded/place of graduation, we find

that the valuations of the GAP and Law graduates from the UB Law Faculty do not differ
from those of the reference category (i.e., all other graduates from Catalonia’s public
universities excluding the UB). However, in general, graduates in other degree courses
offered at the UB Law Faculty and graduates in other degree courses offered at the UB
show a lower (and statistically significant) appreciation of the utility of their training to
their current jobs.
Overall, the index of occupational quality and occupational category explain most of
the variance in our dataset with regards the valuation of education/training in relation to
its utility for work. These two variables account for 18% of the overall variance (the

index of occupational quality explaining 14% and the occupational category explaining
4%).
5. Discussion and conclusions

We have constructed a model that seeks to account for graduate valuations of the
education/training they received at university in terms of its utility in the workplace. In so
doing, we analysed the responses of 13,180 graduates from Catalan universities
(interviewed during the first quarter of 2014) and who were working at the time of the
survey (84%).
The average valuation provided by the interviewees for the training/education
received with respect to the job they are currently performing is 4.36 on a scale with a
maximum of 7. On average, the assessment given by GAP graduates coincides with this
overall mean, while the UB’s Law graduates are the ones that value most lower the skills
taught at university in relation to the jobs they now perform.
The regression analysis confirms the descriptive findings and we observe that two
variables explain most of the variance of our dependent variable (the graduate valuation
of the training/education received at university in relation to their current job). These two
variables are the “index of occupational quality” and the “occupational category” of
graduates. Thus, the results indicate, on the one hand, that the better the contract, salary
and match between training and employment conditions, the higher the valuation
graduates give of their training/education. On the other hand, graduates occupying the
upper occupational categories in terms of job skills value their training/education more
than those in lower categories.
Our results also show that women have, in general, a more positive valuation of the
knowledge received at university in relation to their work, and that the highest valuations
are given by those women with the best academic records.

The graduates who made shorter degrees give lower valuations to the
education/training received, which could be linked to the duration of the degree, a
variable that shows a negative relationship with our dependent variable.
In contrast, we find no differences in valuations when considering the educational
level of parents. This result is interesting and shows further evidence that university
graduates are becoming increasingly independent of the influence of their social origins
as their education level increases (i.e., the higher their educational level, the weaker the
influence of parental status).
The degree awarded/place of graduation variable shows that graduates from the
UB’s Faculty of Law, except for those graduating in GAP and Law itself, and all other
UB graduates report a slightly lower valuation of their training than that reported by
graduates from Catalonia’s other public universities. Here, it might be interesting to
examine the influence of social class, an issue not explicitly addressed here, but one that
should be addressed in future work.
In short, given that the most important variables are the index of occupational quality
and occupational category, we might summarise the findings of this study in the
following sentence: “Tell me what work you perform and I will tell you how you value
the applied skills you acquired at university”.
The theoretical contribution of this paper can be summarized as follows: on the one
hand, we contribute detailed information and empirical estimates to a subject rarely
discussed in the specialized literature, which tends to focus much more on questions of
job satisfaction or the match between training and employment; on the other hand, by
examining the match between graduate competences and employment, we are able to
offer more than a purely technocratic vision of this issue and provide evidence that
contradicts the purely “matching” approach. More specifically we, first, incorporate the
institutional element into our empirical estimation by introducing the specific
assessments that graduates offer of the institution at which they studied. Second, we
include an assessment of the “educational market” that comprises a variety of agents, and

which is typically overlooked from the matching perspective. Third, we deal with two
elements that are often confused and account for questions of both training supply
(received in a specific institution) and labour supply characteristics (measured by the
actual job positions held by the graduates), while we also include a link between the two
elements by valuing the training received in relation to the specific applicability of these
competences to the work done by the graduates at the time of answering the survey.
In terms of education policy, these results are of obvious relevance because,
generally speaking, graduates value positively their own past efforts, at the same time as
they value positively the specific tools available to them in terms of the knowledge and
skills that their university provided them with. Moreover, this assessment has been
carried out not within the field of higher education but within the labour market, and it
clearly points to the positive impact of universities on the job satisfaction of graduates in
terms of the valuation given to the training/education received in higher education
institutions.
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Appendix
Figure A1: Assessment of the knowledge received from higher education institutions by
degree awarded/place of graduation. (All graduates)
Ass
ess
me
nt
of
kn
ow
led
ge
rec
eiv
ed
Means: 4.9240 4.8921 4.3137 4.9449 5.0691
Table A1: Difference between the valuation of the education/training received (in
general) and the education/training received with respect to its utility in the workplace.
Other Rest of
Difference between degrees in
GAP Law Rest of UB Public Total
valuations the Law
Fac. Unis.
Theoretical learning 0.8438 0.5306 1.4107 0.8905 0.8922 0.8963
Practical learning -0.2813 -0.6804 0.0602 0.0012 0.2483 0.1791
Written expression -0.4063 -0.7959 -0.4881 -0.4026 -0.5050 -0.4836
Oral expression -0.9375 -1.6531 -0.9461 -1.0323 -0.9734 -0.9924
Teamwork -0.0625 -0.7449 -0.4615 -0.6412 -0.4075 -0.4640
Leadership -0.9063 -1.4694 -0.7679 -1.1115 -1.0611 -1.0714
Problem solving -1.0938 -1.2551 -1.0000 -1.1727 -1.0057 -1.0464
Decision-making -0.7188 -1.7653 -0.9394 -1.2080 -1.1840 -1.1896
Critical thinking -0.2813 -0.2857 0.1024 -0.3496 -0.4158 -0.3912
Creativity -0.9063 -1.2857 -0.4671 -0.7297 -0.6936 -0.7043
Management skills -0.8438 -1.3265 -1.0419 -1.0146 -0.9795 -0.9911
Documentation skills -0.1563 -0.9184 -0.2410 -0.2361 -0.2968 -0.2871
Languages -1.5000 -2.0510 -1.5298 -1.6682 -1.6618 -1.6642
Computing Skills -1.1563 -2.3878 -1.6488 -1.3057 -0.9334 -1.0433

Table A2: Multiple linear regression: testing training received at university.

Unstandardized Coefficients
Dependent variable: training received at coefficients typified
t Sig.
university Stand.
B Beta
error
Independent Variables
Constant 4.364 .080 54.610 0.00
Occupational Quality Index (Numerical) .005 .001 .093 8.226 .000
Occupational Category: Lower (*)
Upper -.244 .040 -.109 -6.029 .000
Medium -.142 .043 -.057 -3.326 .001
Academic Performance: Pass (*)
Excellent and Honours .044 .069 .007 .636 .525
Good .124 .023 .060 5.389 .000
Control Variables
Sex: Male (*) .232 .023 .109 10.222 .000
Age (years) .001 .002 .005 .479 .632
Educational level of parents: Primary (*)
Secondary .035 .027 .015 1.267 .205
Higher -.089 .026 -.041 -3.418 .001
Career lenght (in years) -.045 .005 -.115 -9.953 .000
Place of graduation: Rest Public (*)
GAP Degree -.104 .186 -.006 -.561 .575
-.466 .111 -.044 -4.199 .000
Law Degree
Other degrees – UB Law Fac. -.637 .089 -.075 -7.129 .000

Other UB degrees -.176 .026 -.073 -6.913 .000
Number of cases 8,817
R2 5.4%
2
R adjust 5.3%
Standard error 1.01140
(*) Reference category of independent variables
Regarding the results reported in Table A2 the goodness of fit of the model is very low at
around 5%. The results for the three main variables of interest are statistically significant
except in the case of academic performance classed as Excellent and Honours.

The index of occupational quality has a positive impact, but the occupational
category presents the expected opposite tendency. Finally, academic performance also
presents a positive estimate: graduates with a good (self-report) academic record value
more highly the education/training they received at university.
As for the other control variables, we find that socio-economic background of recent
graduates (measured by their parents’ level of education) only affects the valuation when
the parents have completed studies of higher education. Age is not significant and degree
length presents a negative impact: graduates who made shorter degrees value less the
education/training received at university. In the case of the variable capturing degree
awarded/place of graduation, we observe that GAP graduate valuations do not differ
from those of the reference category (i.e., all other graduates from Catalonia’s public
universities excluding the UB). In contrast, the graduates form the rest of places show a
lower valuation.
It is perhaps worth stressing that when graduates are asked to value the education
they received at university, they might understand this in a more global sense and so
assess many elements including their own performance, the expertise of teachers, their
family’s socioeconomic situation at that time, etc., whereas when asked to value the
applicability of this knowledge to their current job, the focus is much more specific. In
this sense, when responding to the more general question the current job and all its
characteristics are irrelevant in the graduates’ valuation of the training received.


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Multidisciplinary Journal for Education, http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/muse.2015.

Valuation by Catalan graduates of the training received at

S. Fachelli* and D. Montolio**

Grup d’Innovació Docent Consolidat de Gestió i Administració Pública (GID-GAP)

*Departament de Sociologia. Universitat de Barcelona. Corresponding author:

Received: 2015-02-14; Accepted: 2015-05-24

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

To gain insights into graduate valuations of the training received at university in

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

characteristics, the valuation of training/education with respect to occupation is

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

3. Empirical model, methodology and data sources

𝑌𝑌𝑖𝑖 = 𝛼𝛼 + 𝛽𝛽1 ∑ 𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖 + 𝛽𝛽2 ∑ 𝑍𝑍𝑖𝑖 + 𝜀𝜀𝑖𝑖 (1)

3.2. Data sources and variables

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Table 1: Sample of Catalan graduates by degree awarded/place of graduation and in

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Table 2: Occupational categories based on skill level

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Table 3: Explanatory variables

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Mean: 4.3502 3.8222 3.8407 4.2345 4.4274

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Figure 2 presents the assessment of the applicability of knowledge received in

Figure 2: Assessment of the applicability of knowledge to work by occupational category,

Utility for work

Utility for work

Source: Based on AQU (2014).

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Figure 3: Difference between the graduates’ valuation of each component of training

Source: Based on AQU (2014).

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

4.2. Regression analysis

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Table 4: Multiple linear regression: testing the model of analysis.

In the case of the variable capturing degree awarded/place of graduation, we find

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

5. Discussion and conclusions

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

AQU (2014) Universitat i Treball a Catalunya 2014. Estudi de la inserció laboral de la

Argyle, M. (2001) The Psychology of Happiness. Routledge, 2001.

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Fachelli, S.; Planas, I. (2014) Inserción profesional y movilidad intergeneracional de los

Gamero, C. (2003) Análisis económico de la satisfacción laboral. Màlaga: Universidad de

Gargallo, A. (2008) La satisfacción laboral y sus determinantes en las cooperativas. En:

Hamermesh, D.S. (1977) Economic aspects of job satisfaction. In Orley Ashenfelter

Hamermesh, D.S. (2001) The Changing Distribution of Job Satisfaction. Journal of

Hodson, D. (1985) Philosophy of science, science and science education. Studies in

Fachelli & Montolio (2015)

Mañé, F. and Miravent, D. (2007) L’adequació de la formació universitària en Serra

McGuiness, S. (2006) Overeducation in the labour market. Journal of Economic Surveys,

Navarro-Cendejas, J. (2013) Universidad y mercado de trabajo en Cataluña: un análisis

Olarte, M. L. (2011) “Los determinantes de la satisfacción laboral: una revisión teórica y

Planas, J. (2014). Adecuar la oferta de educación a la demanda de trabajo. ¿Es posible?

Planas, J. and Fachelli, S. (2010) “Catalan universities as a factor of equity and

Robbins, S.P. (2004) Comportamiento organizacional. Pearson Educación.

Sattinger, M. (1993) Assignment models of the distribution of earnings. Journal of

Seashore, S.E. (1974) “Job satisfaction as an indicator of the quality of employment”,